State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal’s comment that she hoped that President Donald Trump would be assassinated is way beyond the bounds of acceptable public discourse. Violent death is only warranted to stop someone from immediately doing violent harm to others – and we oppose the death penalty even in the case of convicted rapists and murderers. We oppose this administration on almost every policy stand and public pronouncement and would welcome an immediate end to Trump’s destructive behavior. But his violent death would only contribute to the amoral chaos that Trump brought to the White House and our national consciousness, and would make this unstable, xenophobic, racist, anti-feminist president into a martyr.
Chappelle-Nadal has since apologized publicly and said she posted that thought in a moment of frustration, but did not mean it. The apology is not enough. Had Trump tweeted that Chappelle-Nadal should be assassinated (amazingly enough, that’s not an impossibility), we would call for his resignation. Had any elected official at any level tweeted it about President Barack Obama, we would have called for that person’s resignation. It is unacceptable for any elected official to make a public death wish for any other elected official, or for anyone else. We join both the Missouri Democratic and Republican parties in calling for Chappelle-Nadal to resign. Her impulsive public death wish for another elected official shows she is unfit to represent the people of Missouri in the 14th Senate District.
We understand why some people are rallying behind the state senator. She has shown courage and conviction in times of great need, such as Ferguson and the Westlake Landfill crisis. However, any effectiveness she ever had is destroyed now, as she has been removed from all of her committee assignments and is being opposed even by her own party leadership as the Senate leadership explores how to expel her. We understand championing Maria (if we may address her more familiarly) as a person and wishing her well as she regroups and brings her intellect and passion – though at times terribly misguided and erratic, she is brilliant and cares deeply about our community – to her next endeavor. And we do believe she deserves a second chance and has much more good work to do. But she has destroyed her credibility and effectiveness as an elected official, and we believe any effort expended in saving her elected position is a non-strategic waste of time and resources.
Many have said that Maria should not be targeted when many other elected officials, even Trump himself, have said and done worse and not been asked to resign or been threatened with expulsion. In the case of Trump, we certainly agree. Trump has repeatedly said and done things that put the lives of other people in grave danger – he has, in effect, wished death on many people. To name a few: He encouraged police officers to violently assault suspects, he spoke up for white supremacists who protested violently while chanting racist slogans and killing one protestor, and he rashly threatened thermonuclear war to an erratic and unstable nuclear power. The presidency of Trump is a threat to all Americans, the nation itself, and indeed everyone on the planet. He is deficient in character and intellect. On Wednesday in Phoenix, Trump demonstrated once again that he is vengeful and unmoored mentally. Yet we don’t believe Donald Trump will resign as president of the United States unless it benefits him in a bargaining process, should the Congress seek to impeach and remove him. We do support an urgent investigative process that examines his out-of-control actions closely and holds him to account for his egregious and dangerous behavior in the nation’s highest office.
